Retail display company sharing their thoughts, advice, photos, and promotions.

Month: October 2012

THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Some Interesting Facts About Halloween

BOO! Halloween, also known as “all hallows eve” is just around the corner.

Did you know that Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”). The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter.

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops (Halloween History). This festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is also believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which then attracted the bats. Masks and costumes were also worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. So, you can probably envision how this is all came together.

Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. It wasn’t until 1947, after the war had ended, that things really took off, especially in the 70s, 80s and 90s. In the new millennium, marketing for Halloween is only second behind Christmas, with Halloween shops popping up, as fast as the July 4th holiday is over.

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Product Displays

Which should I choose?

Custom made or stock displays?

Which type is right for your specific brand?

Your brand is the best, Right? You’ve invested a lot of time, effort, and money in building your brand. So, when you finally go to market, you need to decide which approach best suits your particular brand. Which approach will get your products noticed, and more importantly… SOLD?At Sharn Enterprises, we believe “Custom Made” point of purchase displays are the answer and here is why:

Product Differentiation When Sharn Enterprises designs a custom display for you, it is unique, and it sets your products apart. It emphasizes the unique image that you have created for your brand. In short, it gets your product noticed!

Foot print As you know, floor space is “gold” to both you and your retailer. A custom display is designed around your specific product, size, packaging, and the quantities to be offered. It also can include a modular concept, so that as your sales increase you can just add the modular piece which saves you from replacing the entire unit when it needs updating.

Brand PresenceWhen using a permanent display, you have gained a valuable foot hold within the store itself. Conversely, when you order a stock display it’s fairly easy for a competitor to take over your space by just replacing your logo or signage. You’ve lost your valuable retail position, and lost several sales. I bet this has happened too many of you who use stock displays.

In any retail store, there are literally thousands of items that come in to view as the shopper walks through the store. Some people (like me) just go in a store with the single purpose to buy a particular item, and then we leave. More people (like my wife) often go to the store with a similar purpose, but they also like to browse around to see what the store is offering today. Shopping is a visual event and you want to engage the shopper quickly, create interest in your product, and have them put it in their shopping cart before something else grabs their attention.

A custom made product display, designed and manufactured by Sharn Enterprises will get your products noticed! That’s what our customers have been saying for 38 years! Contact us for details.

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The Art of Competition

Being from the Chicago land area, when I think of competition I often think about the rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Green BayPackers. These two teams have been battling it out since 1921, and it is probably one of the oldest rivalries in football history. They just played a few weeks ago, and it was almost like a national holiday around here. When I came into work that day, I was the only one not wearing some type of Bears shirt or jersey (No, I wasn’t wearing Green Bay either).

We are all taught from a very young age to compete. Certainly, we do that in school with our grades, as well as in all of our various sporting events. We are taught that competition is good for us. That competition makes you strive to achieve and fulfill your greatest potential.

Webster’s Dictionary defines competition as “A test of skill or ability” or as “The activity of competing as for a profit or a prize”

As most of you know, competition in business can be tough! Successfully growing a business is often dependant on having a strong competitive edge that gradually builds a core of loyal customers, which increases over time. At Sharn Enterprises, this is what has allowed us to do business for nearly 38 years!

When a potential customer approaches us and asks the inevitable question “Why should we buy from Sharn?” we usually tell them:

You can count on our 38 years of reliable, efficient, and timely service.

Since everything is manufactured “under one roof”, we are able to closely control both our quality, and our pricing to you. We are a proud American manufacturer!

We provide free custom design assistance. That’s just one of the benefits of dealing with our customer friendly staff.

We are privately owned. We have unique flexibility on everything ranging from the scheduling of small to large orders, pricing, and customer terms.